IDC: 43% of enterprise AI agent budgets ride on expiring promo credits
perilli · x · 2026-10-26
IDC Sourcing Advisory analysts are seeing aggressive discounts from frontier AI labs on enterprise seats and API access, and find a substantial share of AI agent budgets sits on services covered by promotional credits or introductory rates. IDC survey data (N=1,666): for 43% of orgs, 26–50% of the AI agent budget relies on expiring credits; 33% are in the 1–25% band, 19% in 51–75%. When credits expire next year, enterprises worldwide will have to re-test whether AI initiatives justify their true price.
Related event: IDC: Many Enterprise AI Agent Budgets Ride on Expiring Vendor Discounts(3 posts)→
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